Bread Recipe: Chocolate Brioche Star

This brioche was doing the rounds recently in a group that I am part of on Facebook, so I decided to give it a go myself. Having done so, and found it not to be too difficult, I thought I would share my recipe and technique.

You can play with and alter the filling as much as you like, but the one I have baked in this recipe simply uses Nutella.

I would say this kind of bread is best enjoyed warm from the oven, so it helps to be able to bake it close to when you want to eat it. As we had it for breakfast, this meant preparing the dough and shaping it the night before, leaving it to prove very slowly in the fridge over night.

Equipment:

Mixing bowl

Electric mixer with dough hooks (optional)

27cm (or thereabouts) spring-form round baking tin

Greaseproof paper

Sharp knife

Rolling pin

Ingredients:

500g bread flour plus extra for dusting

2 eggs

60g sugar

180ml milk, warmed

80g butter, melted & mixed with the milk

7g dry yeast

8g salt

3 tbsp Nutella (slightly warmed if too thick)

Step 1: Make the Dough

Place the yeast, flour, eggs, milk, butter, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Knead – either by hand or using dough hooks and an electric mixer until you have a smooth dough – about 5 minutes with a mixer, 10-15 if kneading by hand.

If the dough is too sticky, you can add more flour.

Shape the dough into a ball and let it prove in a bowl covered with a clean tea-towel in a warm place for about an hour (until doubled in size).

Step 2: Divide the Dough

Once doubled in size, place the dough on to a floured surface and knock back. Split into four equal-sized pieces. Leave these to rest for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut a piece of greaseproof paper to place in your baking tin. Grease the baking tin – this will help the paper stick and not move about when you place the Nutella on the dough.

Roll each ball of dough out into a circle a few cm smaller than the baking tin you will use (e.g. for a 27cm baking tin, roll out 24cm circles). Try and keep all the circles the same diameter.

Step 3: Apply the Filling

Place a disc of dough on the greaseproof paper and spread the Nutella over it. Make sure to leave a 1-2cm border around the edge of the dough.

Place the second disc on top of the first and press down all around the border to join them together.

Spread the Nutella over the second layer and repeat the process with the third layer.

Finally, haiving spread Nutella on the third layer, add the fourth, leaving it plain (don’t spread anything on it).

Step 4: Cut the Dough

This is where you need a sharp knife! Initially, cut the dough into quarters, making sure not to cut through the centre of the disc. There should be a central circle of about 2cm diameter which does not get cut through.

Make another four cuts in-between the original cuts, dividing the disc into eighths (remembering to leave the centre in tact).

Finally make eight cuts in the middle of the eight sections, dividing the disc into sixteen segments.

Step 5: Shape the Dough

Taking two adjacent sections, lift and twist towards the outside – your right hand should twist to the right and your left hand will twist to the left.

Repeat this for the rest of the segments – you may need to slice through again if the dough has stuck back together again.

Place in the baking tin and leave to double in size – if leaving over night, place in the fridge after a short while.